


Skin White as Snow, Lips Red as Blood

by Heart_Seoul_Soshi



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 01:24:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14683512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heart_Seoul_Soshi/pseuds/Heart_Seoul_Soshi
Summary: A strange spell appears to turn Evie into a vampire. Mal reacts very rationally.





	Skin White as Snow, Lips Red as Blood

**Author's Note:**

> a request from @cyoung1898 on tumblr

Mal kicked open the door to her dorm room, the only way she _could_ do it with her arms full of old, worn and tattered books. She stormed in, kicking the door closed behind her. In the dim light of the single lamp that lit the room with the curtains drawn tight, she found Jay and Carlos right where she’d left them hours ago, sitting at the table with Carlos’ laptop.  
  
“Mal!” Jay exclaimed, standing up. “You’re back!”  
  
“How’d it go??” Carlos asked.    
  
Mal came forward and dropped the books onto the table, giving her arms a much-needed rest.  
  
“The nice thing about a line of succession? When the most feared villain on The Isle is suddenly a little lizard sitting in a cage,  _you_ become the most feared villain on The Isle,” she said. “They practically cleared the path for me.”  
  
Carlos reached over and grabbed the books one by one, turning each of them to their spines and reading the titles. Mal’s focus was only on the boys for those few brief seconds, because then her eyes went straight to Evie sitting on her bed, leaning back against her pillow with her knees drawn up to her chest.  
  
“…E,” Mal softly spoke her name, carefully moving across the room to the bed.  
  
Evie almost didn’t seem to realize Mal was even in the room until she heard her own name, turning her head as if coming out of a trance.  
  
“…Mal,” she said. “You’re back.”  
  
“I’m back. I brought books from The Isle.”  
  
"Think they’ll be any help?” Evie asked, her gaze distracted.  
  
“I’ll make them be of help. We’ll figure out how to reverse this spell on you, then we’ll figure out  _who_  cast this spell in the first place and give them an old-fashioned VK talking to.”  
  
“By that she means talking with our hands,” Jay made a fist before taking over the laptop and leaving Carlos to start on the books.  
  
“Why would anyone turn Evie into a vampire?” Cruella’s son questioned helplessly, flipping through pages.  
  
“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is undoing it before the spell sets and the change is permanent,” Mal firmly argued. “What did you guys find online?”  
  
“A whole lot of nothing,” Jay grumbled.  
  
Evie looked to the windows, where the drapes were fighting back the sun blazing brightly just outside; the sun she was walking happily in just two days ago that now burned her should she dare to stray into its light.  
  
“Nothing is not what we’re looking for,” Mal took one of the books from the pile in front of Carlos. “So look harder. We don’t know how long we have until the spell takes over completely.”  
  
“If only I could remember what happened—”  
  
“You can’t, Evie,” Mal interrupted. “But that’s okay. Just leave it to us.”  
  
Evie wanted to say more, but she’d been at a loss for words the last 48 hours.  
  
So she sat in silence as her friends did their research. Jay’s silence was interspersed with the occasional clicking of keys, Carlos’ with the turning of pages. Mal couldn’t let herself sit, slowly pacing back and forth across the floor with a book in her hands. Evie was struggling to remember, really she was, but there was simply nothing. Just walking back from the library two nights ago, perhaps a rustling from the bushes—and then waking up in her bed with paler skin, an aversion to light, and a much sharper pair of teeth.  
  
“…Mal,” Carlos said softly after a long while.  
  
She steered her pacing over to him, leaning in to hear him as he whispered.  
  
“…Mal, all I can find in these books is stuff about _real_ vampires, and how…how to kill them.”  
  
“Same here,” Jay said just as quietly. “Just vamps. Nothing about people getting turned  _into_ vamps by magic.”  
  
“How do we even know it  _was_  magic?” Carlos worried. “She can’t remember, who’s to say Evie wasn’t attacked by a real vampire and it’s already too late?”  
  
“It’s not, and she wasn’t,” Mal snapped. “It’s a spell, I can feel it.”  
  
“…Okay,” Carlos nodded.  
  
“You have to be overlooking something. Just keep reading,” Mal told them.  
  
She broke away from their little huddle and found her attention drawn back to Evie, who gazed absently at the canopy above her bed.  
  
“E? How do you feel?” she asked.  
  
Evie laughed dryly, not looking at Mal.  
  
“Not thirsty, if that’s what you mean.”  
  
“I’d take that as a good sign, wouldn’t you?” Jay sighed.  
  
“So, so far she’s got the fangs, the sunlight thing, and the cold skin,” Mal counted off the list on her fingers. “That leaves drinking blood, super senses, garlic…turning into a bat? Are we going to count turning into a bat?”  
  
“Let’s hope we don’t have to,” Jay said.  
  
“You’re right,” Mal agreed. “I don’t care what we have to do. If I have to go to The Isle again and drag a sorcerer back by their ear, I will.”  
  
A morbidly curious Evie ran her tongue over her fangs for the countless time since she’d acquired them, not at all over how foreign and out of place they felt.  
  
“What if we end up too late?” she asked.  
  
“We won’t,” Mal refused to let her insistence go. “For every spell there’s a counter spell, that’s just the way it works. No exceptions.”  
  
“We might not find it in time,” Evie added.  
  
In an ironic role reversal that would have been hilarious in a less dire situation, Mal was the one looking on the bright side who wouldn’t stand for such negativity coming from her best friend.  
  
“Evie, you’ve been stuck inside the dorm for too long. You need to get out and clear your head, why don’t you unwind with a walk?”  
  
“Daylight,” Evie said simply, pointing a finger at the windows.  
  
Mal froze.  
  
“…Sorry,” she herself had forgotten.  
  
“Hey, she’s not full vampire yet. I bet if we just put her in some long sleeves and sunglasses—”  
  
Carlos was silenced on the spot by Mal and Evie’s identical looks of unamusement.  
  
“Maybe we don’t even need to know about this spell in particular,” Jay spoke up. “Maybe we just need a magic undo button.”  
  
“A catch-all…” Carlos mused.  
  
“I already know there’s nothing like that in my spellbook. And the books from The Isle probably won’t have anything about undoing black magic, because who there would want to?” Mal thought aloud.  
  
Although unable to indulge in the walk Mal suggested, unless burning and searing pain was suddenly a thing, Evie nonetheless got to her feet, stretching her legs out to wander around the room.  
  
“We’d need Auradon magic for that,” Carlos figured. “But with Auradon magic retired, it’ll be hard to find anything, even online.”  
  
“Try anyway.”  
  
Mal ditched the book in her hand and the rest of them to Carlos, following Jay’s course of action now and going to her phone to find answers on the Internet.  
  
“If only the boys worked this hard on their actual homework,” Evie teased halfheartedly.  
  
Another bout of silence as Mal led the VKs in heavy research. Another bout of silence that instead of being punctuated with page turns and Jay’s typing, was suddenly punctuated by Evie’s scream.  
  
Mal’s phone practically jumped from her hands and she juggled it like a hot potato before catching it in her grasp once more.  
  
“Evie!! What??” she shouted, whirling around.  
  
“The mirror!!” Evie cried out.  
  
Mal hurried over to where she stood in front of the tall floor-length mirror. The boys scrambled out of their seats to join them, and there they all were; Mal, Carlos, and Jay.  
  
But no Evie.  
  
“My reflection…” Evie whispered, covering her mouth with her hand.  
  
“…No reflection. That’s the one you forgot, Mal.”  
  
“Thank you, Carlos. I’m aware of that now,” Mal glared daggers at him.  
  
“…This is some kind of punishment, I just know it,” Evie whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut to keep back the tears.  
  
“…What?” Mal questioned.  
  
Evie turned away, pushing past Mal and the boys with a barely-contained sob to return to her bed.  
  
“…Jay. Carlos. Give us a minute,” Mal softly said.  
  
She didn’t need to say anything more, the boys turned on their heels and walked away, silently leaving the room and closing the door behind them.  
  
“…Punishment for what?” Mal asked.  
  
Evie shrugged.  
  
“I don’t know. For being my mother’s daughter, I suppose,” her voice cracked. “Cursing someone like me to not see their reflection? I haven’t  _read_  a better classic, Mal.”  
  
“E…”  
  
Mal sat down beside Evie on the bed.  
  
“…I can’t be a vampire, Mal,” Evie started to cry. “I can’t never see the sun again. Or hurt people! Do you know what vampires do? They hurt people, M!”  
  
Mal shook her head.  
  
“Not even Evie as a vampire could ever hurt someone,” she said softly.  
  
“Mal—”  
  
“No. I know this. Don’t argue.”  
  
Evie clenched her fists tightly at her sides before reaching over and cupping a hand around Mal’s cheek, her tears hot and angry.  
  
“Evie? What are you—”  
  
In the blink of an eye Evie had pulled her in close, angling her head and baring her fangs as she lunged for Mal’s neck.  
  
“Evie!!” Mal shoved her away and jumped from the bed, backing up.  
  
“You see??” Evie stood up. “A monster, M. That’s what I’ll be… a monster trapped in the dark. Feared, ugly, alone, and hurting others for my own gain. A true villain.”  
  
Mal shook, not in fear, but in anger at herself that she’d reacted the way she did.  
  
“…Evie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…look, I know villains, and I know monsters. And you are, and always have been, the farthest thing from either.”  
  
“You remember that when I’m drinking your blood,” Evie narrowed her eyes.  
  
“I don’t care if you drink my blood!” Mal said in exasperation. “That doesn’t make you evil! It’s doing what you have to do to survive, just like on The Isle!”  
  
“I don’t want my life to be like how it was on The Isle again!!  
  
”…Okay, you know what?“ Mal stormed forward and took Evie’s hand. "You are not going to become a vampire, but even if you did, it wouldn’t change a thing.”  
  
She dragged her in front of the mirror, where they experienced the eerie phenomenon of Evie’s uncast reflection once again.  
  
“Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there,” Mal said.  
  
She softly ran a hand down Evie’s cheek, along the line of her jaw, both girls watching as Mal’s hand ghosted across nothing in the mirror.  
  
“Reflection or no reflection, you’re still here, and you’re still Evie,” she told her.  
  
“Evie who can’t even put on makeup anymore…”  
  
“You’re flawless even without it, but regardless, we can find another way. E, forget the mirror now, and look at me.”  
  
Evie did so with watering eyes.  
  
“I don’t want this to happen to me, Mal. We’re running out of time.”  
  
“…You know I haven’t seen you smile in two days?” Mal said randomly, catching Evie off guard.  
  
“Why would I, with these… _things_ ,” Evie gestured to her mouth, and the fangs hiding within.  
  
“Smile because you know you’re going to be okay,” Mal took her hand again, holding tight and ignoring the chill of her skin.  
  
“I don’t know I’m going to be okay,” Evie mumbled.  
  
“Smile because you know I  _won’t stop_ until you are again.”  
  
That worked.  
  
“…Okay, I guess I  _do_ know that,” Evie giggled, fangs and all.  
  
“Mhm,” Mal nodded.  
  
She had absolutely, positively no idea what it was that compelled her to place the softest of kisses to Evie’s lips, but quickly kiss her she did, catching Evie off guard once more.  
  
“…Mal, what was that?” her slight shock melted into laughter soon enough.  
  
Mal smiled slyly.  
  
“You’re still cute with fangs.”  
  
A plume of yellow sparks went up between them, making both girls jump away from each other in surprise as the sparks showered down around Evie in a blinding rain. Evie’s dark eyes went wide as they faded away and the air cleared.  
  
“…What just happened?” she asked.  
  
Mal shrugged, looking from Evie, to the wall, to the top of Evie’s head, to—  
  
“Evie!!” Mal pointed urgently at the mirror, and Evie had never whirled around so fast in her life.  
  
There she was. Reflected in the mirror, right there at Mal’s side. She drew in a sharp breath, already startled at the sight of herself as if she hadn’t had a reflection in years. Then she moved in closer, peering so intently into the glass, parting her lips just enough to see that the fangs were gone, too. She pressed her hands to her cheeks. Warm again. Her skin was warm again, and as she stared into the mirror she could see the color rushing back to it.  
  
“Mal…”  
  
Mal blinked dumbly once, twice, and then ran to the window and threw open the curtains. Evie felt the warmth on her face; warmth, oh so soothing, not pain burning and blazing.  
  
“…The spell is broken!!” Evie cheered, her face lighting up.  
  
Mal ran a hand through her hair as she walked back over to Evie.  
  
“But…how??” she asked aloud. Oh, she was just as ecstatic, it was just suddenly buried under many layers of confusion.  
  
But Evie wondered that very same question, also confused as to what magic had ended the spell when two days of books and online searching had gotten them nowhere.  
  
And then she gasped.  
  
Met Mal’s eyes.  
  
Tried to pick out the three simple words from the overwhelming tidal wave of thoughts that suddenly came crashing through her mind.  
  
“…True love’s kiss.”  
  
Mal’s jaw dropped.  
  
“A magic undo button…” she murmured.  
  
“A catch-all…”  
  
The two just stood there in silence, locked in each other’s gazes. Evie thought about it, about Mal promising to give anything and everything to save her, even going back to The Isle just to find what she needed. Mal seeing her in the mirror even when she literally wasn’t even there. Mal kissing her even when hideous and dangerous fangs lurked just underneath her lips.  
  
“…You love me?” Evie asked.  
  
Mal was thinking about it too. How her heart had turned to ice two days ago when Jay burst into her dorm with a limp, unconscious Evie in his arms. How she didn’t even think twice about running for The Isle to get the books on dark magic when the word “vampire” had finally been thrown out there. Being prepared to completely shove aside eating, sleeping, so every single second could be spent searching for a way to break the spell.  
  
“…I think I do,” Mal whispered as if she spoke to herself. “…I guess I have for a long time now.”  
  
Evie threw her arms around Mal and hugged her so close just then, elation welling up in her chest like that warmth from the sun.  
  
“You saved me,” Evie said, her voice muffled in the crook of Mal’s neck.  
  
Mal utterly melted in Evie’s hold.  
  
“…Think of it as repaying the favor, E. But just for the record, vampire Evie would never be feared, ugly, or alone. She’d always be Evie, she’d always be beautiful…and she’d always have me.”  
  
Evie held tight to Mal, just turning her head enough to kiss her on the cheek.  
  
“…So I’m cute with fangs, hm?”  
  
She and Mal laughed together, so incredibly relieved.  
  
“Very cute, Evie. Very cute indeed.”


End file.
